Scottish house prices soared to twice UK average

Staff reporter

HOUSE prices in Scotland have soared to twice the rate of the UK average in the past year. With this in mind, where are the most expensive council areas to buy property in the country?

According to new data (September 2015) from estate agency Your Move and research consultancy Acadata, the summer period showed another period of strong sales in the Scottish property market with July recording a seven-year high.

Average house prices in Scotland rose 14.6 per cent from March 2014-March 2015.

So how do house prices differ across the country and what areas have seen the highest increases?

The City of Edinburgh remains the most expensive council area to purchase a home despite the fact that average property prices dropped by almost £12,000 (5.0 per cent) from July 2014 to July 2015. Nationally, across the same period, house prices dropped by 0.1 per cent, signalling a hesitation at the higher end of the market.

Fuelled by high-flying state schools, the leafy suburbs of East Renfrewshire are hot on the capital’s heels with an average house price of £220,261. Other well-heeled areas with average prices over £200,000 include Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and East Dunbartonshire. Notably the six council areas with the highest house prices experienced a decrease year on year from July 2014 to July 2015.

John Tindale, senior housing analyst for Acadata attributed the price slump in higher priced areas to “ the number of high value properties currently being sold in Scotland following the introduction of the Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) in April.”

Propping up the list at the bottom of the table was Eiliean Siar (Western isles) with an average house price of £98,023 a 0.1 per cent decrease from the previous year with East Ayrshire slightly above.

The Shetland islands experienced the biggest gain year on year with a 17.2 per cent rise in the average house price. Research by the Bank of Scotland in May this year found the property boom in the UK’s northernmost region was being fuelled by high employment levels driven by Shetland’s offshore industries.

By way of contrast, the area with the largest fall in average prices was East Lothian (-8.9%) followed by The Scottish Borders (-6.2%).